Down in the Woods at Sleepytime - Softcover

Carole Lexa Scheafer is the author of Big Little Monkey, The Bora Bora Dress and Full Moon Barnyard Dance. She writes her books in her pyjamas, surrounded by pillows, with a plentiful supply of tea and fruit, and a little bit of chocolate for good measure. Vanessa Cabban is the illustrator of Bringing Down the Moon, No Place Like Home, Diamond in the Snow and The Best Gift of All with stories by Jonathan Emmett. She also provided the art for the Dear Tooth Fairy, Father Christmas and Mermaid books written by Alan Durant. She likes to work in her studio in the garden, with her two dogs snoring nearby.

PreSchool-Grade 1-"Deep down in the woods," mother animals are saying, "It's sleepytime," but bear cubs want to play, hedgehog babies are still hungry, bunnies are peek-a-booing, and toadlets are making up songs. When wise Grandma Owl hoots, "It's storytime," the little ones settle in for her tale of baby animals drifting off to sleep. This beautifully atmospheric picture book benefits from gentle, often alliterative text: hedgehogs "snuffle for snacks in the mossy grass," and rabbits "hip-hop, they hide under fat, green leaves." Schaefer's words are soothing even as they describe boisterous play, and are a perfect accompaniment to the jewel-toned pencil-and-watercolor illustrations. A sweeping double-page panorama of the woods in late afternoon opens the book, and a nighttime view of the scene appears at the end. In between, the pictures merge from golden-touched greens to blues and purples as the night descends upon the forest. Cabban's animals are extremely expressive, from the mischievous grins of the playful bear cubs to the look of utter contentment on Mama Toad's face as she proudly listens to her children sing. An ideal bedtime story.
Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, Eldersburg, MD
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